How old is Russell Crowe, what is his divorce auction and what are the Gladiator star’s biggest films?
Russell Crowe is one of Hollywood's most instantly recognisable stars
RUSSELL Crowe is one of Hollywood's most instantly recognisable stars.
Alongside Hugh Jackman, he's one of Australia's greatest ever acting exports - here's what we know.
How old is Russell Crowe?
Russel Crowe was born in New Zealand on April 7, 1953, making him 53 years of age.
Although he was born a Kiwi, he spent most of his life in Australia.
He began his film career in Australia, initially appearing on stage and in Neighbours.
Russell's biggest success Down Under came from the film Romper Stomper, which followed the exploits and downfall of a racist skinhead group. He won an AFI Best Actor Award.
After this success he moved to Hollywood.
What are Russell Crowe's biggest films?
Once Russell Crowe crossed the Atlantic he quickly found himself acting alongside stars like Denzel Washington and Sharon Stone.
It wasn't until Gladiator in 2000, however, that he truly became a star.
Between 1999 and 2001 he received three consecutive Best Actor nominations at the Oscars, winning for Gladiator.
Although in recent years his box-office stardom has declined, he has still found himself with classic roles like Robin Hood and Inspector Javert in Les Miserables.
- Romper Stomper (1992) - Hando
- LA Confidential (1997) - Officer Wendell "Bud" White
- The Insider (1999) - Jeffrey Wigand
- Gladiator (2000) - Maximus Decimus Meridius
- A Beautiful Mind (2001) - John Nash
- Cinderella Man (2005) - Jim Braddock
- American Gangster (2007) - Detective Richie Roberts
- Robin Hood (2010) - Robin Longstride
- Les Miserables (2013) - Inspector Javert
- Man Of Steel (2013) - Jor-El
- The Mummy (2017) - Dr Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde
What is Russell Crowe's divorce auction?
Russell and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Danielle Spencer, have partnered with Sotheby's to sell personal items valued at £1 million.
They've called their collection - which has a total of 227 items - The Art Of Divorce.
The collection includes Crowe's guitars, Spencer's jewellery and dozens of movie props, and they're all for sale to the highest bidder.
"I'm a collector so the things that I've bought I've bought with a passionate eye, you know? It hasn't just been random," the actor said.
His collection of movie memorabilia includes life-size prop horses and carriages.
The Gladiator star says he "actually bought a pub in the bush and opened a little museum to house it all".
"It's definitely a cathartic experience, you know, going through this. But actually, curating the collection has been really joyful," he said.
"We didn't just start doing this a couple of weeks ago, we've been doing it for 12 months."
"Danielle's put a whole bunch of stuff into the auction herself.
"It's one of the things that you learn, well that I learned, is you have to love people the way they want to be loved, not what is love to you.
"And my job would always take me away and I was travelling continuously and that puts a lot of strain on a relationship, particularly when there's babies involved.
"One of those things that you get into the routine of appeasing the distances is with gifts, you know? And Danielle is a very simple person, she didn't need that much stuff."
However, Crowe insists the auction isn't about the money: "I have no real specific use for it.
"I know I'm going to buy some incubators for turtles for a project that's going on in Queensland. But apart from I haven't really thought about that, you know?
"But money is useful, money is fun."
What did Russell Crowe say about sodomy?
Russell Crowe caused controversy after making a joke about “sodomy” with Jacqueline
He made the comment on stage as a means to highlight the need for “sensitivity” in the film industry at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts awards, in Sydney.
The 53-year-old apparently laughed as he told the joke, and said: “I was sodomising Jacqueline McKenzie on the set of Romper Stomper. I didn’t actually intend to do that.
“I was trying to keep my bits away from her bits, and she’s been given one of those pieces of elastic that the girls get when you do those scenes, which protects them from all things, and my bits and pieces were in a little canvas sack with a drawstring.
And it was actually my desire to keep the bits apart. It wasn’t until the opening night of the film that it was pointed out by none other than Jackie McKenzie’s beautiful late mother that we were in fact, in her mind, engaged in sodomy.
“Anyway that was just a story about sensitivity!”
Jacqueline responded to defend Russell Crowe on Facebook and Twitter.